The Brutal Honesty Checklist

Ensure you are prepared for this supposed ‘brutal honesty’ you seek because most people say they’d rather someone told them something to their face instead of behind their back but when it actually happens they have no idea what to do. Remember, sticks and stones may break your bones but names will certainly hurt you if you let them.

Make sure the person from whom you expect honesty from is someone whose judgement is sound as opposed to askew. You wouldn’t demand a doctor to critique your essay on communism. At the end of the day, not everyone knows enough to be honest with you and it’s just absurd how we take the wrong people’s critique.

It’s either brutal or honest never both. As Richard J. Needham said, “People who are brutally honest get more satisfaction out of the brutality than out of the honesty.” People are just waiting to tear you apart. Does that qualify as brutal honesty? No, it does not. Don’t listen to it.

So after you’ve thought about it all, makes more sense to seek constructive criticism instead, doesn’t it?